Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Aaron’s Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Aaron’s Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,638 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,390 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aaron’s were worth $522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PRG. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Aaron’s by 2,008.0% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 178,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,546,000 after buying an additional 170,080 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aaron’s in the fourth quarter valued at $6,093,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Aaron’s by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,564,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,373,000 after buying an additional 134,123 shares during the last quarter. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Aaron’s in the fourth quarter valued at $4,982,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Aaron’s by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 423,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,897,000 after buying an additional 111,406 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Aaron’s Price Performance

Shares of PRG opened at $31.17 on Wednesday. Aaron’s Holdings Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.50 and a fifty-two week high of $50.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a current ratio of 5.71.

Aaron’s (NYSE:PRG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.23. Aaron’s had a net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 22.54%. The business had revenue of $604.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $586.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aaron’s Holdings Company, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Aaron’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PRG. Wall Street Zen lowered Aaron’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Aaron’s from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BTIG Research lowered Aaron’s from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Aaron’s from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aaron’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Insider Transactions at Aaron’s

In other news, CFO Brian Garner acquired 3,500 shares of Aaron’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $28.93 per share, for a total transaction of $101,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 132,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,836,031.21. This trade represents a 2.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steven A. Michaels acquired 14,000 shares of Aaron’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.03 per share, with a total value of $406,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 559,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,246,378.23. This trade represents a 2.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Aaron’s

PROG Holdings, Inc (NYSE:PRG) is a financial technology holding company based in Salt Lake City, Utah with three business segments: Progressive Leasing, which offers lease-to-own transactions primarily to credit-challenged consumers through e-commerce and point-of-sale retail partners, via online, mobile, and in-store solutions; Vive Financial, which provides consumers who may not qualify for traditional prime lending with a variety of second-look, revolving credit products through private label and branded credit cards; and Four Technologies, which provides consumers of all credit backgrounds Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options through four interest-free installments via its platform, Four.